5. Man-down defense. The league's top-rated shorthanded unit (80%) breathes confidence and courage into this team. They're not afraid to be overly physical and land in the penalty box.

6. Shot-stoppers. Brian Phipps (.540) has been very impressive in the last four weeks, giving the 'Hawks championship-caliber goaltending. If he were to falter, title-winner Chris Garrity waits in the wings.

ESPN's Quint Kessenich

Six Reasons why Chesapeake may not win the Steinfeld Cup

1. Ground balls. On Saturday, Alex Smith won 22 of the 27 face-offs, but Chesapeake lost the overall ground ball war by a margin of 12 (42-30). That means their non face-off ground balls were roughly 8, and LI's were 37. After nine games, their starting close defense (Michael Evans, Joe Cinosky, Steve Whittenburg) has combined to scooped up 20 ground balls.

2. Finesse ladened defense lacks physicality from defenders not named Steve Whittenburg. The Bayhawks rarely slide to dodgers and give up unassisted goals by the bushel. Once opponents realize the slide isn't coming, they re-dodge and slam dunk. (See LI's Steven Berger, Tim Goettleman for examples).

3. Third attack spot has been an Achilles' heel as opponents routinely put the shorty on Ryan Hurley/Brian Carroll/Dan Hardy and bump an extra pole to the midfield.

4. Winging it wont work. Chesapeake's shooting woes are distressing. Bayhawks missed the goal 26 times against Boston, 27 times against Hamilton and 22 times in Saturday's loss to LI. Midfielders Justin Smith, Michael Kimmel, Kyle Dixon and Steven Brooks shot a combined 0-24 in the latest loss. Chesapeake is last in shooting percentage at 24.8% and last in SOG% at 56%.

5. Headline midfielders too often have gone M.I.A. Kyle Dixon, Dan Hardy, Michael Kimmel and Brooks often have disappeared like David Copperfield. Ben Hunt has the ability to dodge a pole but the others have been minimally invasive and off target.

6. Conditioning. LI blew out Chesapeake on a hot Saturday night. I'm not convinced the Bayhawks have the cardiovascular conditioning to win two prime-time match-ups in a 24-hour time period in late August temperatures.

Joe Beninati and Quint Kessenich cover MLL for the ESPN Networks. MLL Championship weekend is on Aug. 27 and 28 in Annapolis, Md., and can be seen on ESPN2.